3 www.sandiegotroubadour.com NOVEMBER 2009 SAN DIEGO TROUBADOUR welcome mat MISSION To promote, encourage, and provide an alternative voice for the great local music that is generally overlooked by the mass media; namely the genres of alternative country, Americana, roots, folk, blues, gospel, jazz, and bluegrass. To entertain, educate, and bring together players, writers, and lovers of these forms; to explore their foundations; and to expand the audience for these types of music. Alternative country, Americana, roots, folk, blues, gospel, jazz, and bluegrass music news T ROUBADOUR SAN DIEGO SAN DIEGO TROUBADOUR, the local source for alternative country, Americana, roots, folk, blues, gospel, jazz, and bluegrass music news, is published monthly and is free of charge. Letters to the editor must be signed and may be edited for content. It is not, however, guaranteed that they will appear. 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SUBMITTING A CALENDAR LISTING Email your gig date, including location, address, and time to [email protected] by the 22rd of the month prior to publication. ©2009 San Diego Troubadour. CONTRIBUTORS FOUNDERS Ellen and Lyle Duplessie Liz Abbott Kent Johnson PUBLISHERS Liz Abbott Kent Johnson EDITORIAL/GRAPHICS Liz Abbott Chuck Schiele ADVERTISING Kent Johnson BUSINESS CONSULTANT Joanna Schiele DISTRIBUTION Kent Johnson Dave Sawyer Mark Jackson Indian Joe Stewart Dan Long Paul Cruz STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Steve Covault WEB MASTER Will Edwards WRITERS Michael Alvarez Peter Bolland Jennifer Carney Lou Curtiss Annie Dru Paul Hormick Heather Janiga Frank Kocher Jim McInnes Erik Pettersen Terry Roland Raul Sandelin Sven-Erik Seaholm José Sinatra Allen Singer Steve Thorn D. Dwight Worden John Philip Wyllie Cover photo: Steve Covault Cover design: Chuck Schiele by Raul Sandelin A sk anyone with a PhD in musicology (or any stoner, for that matter) what music is. And, he or she will tell you that music is a metaphor for something. The vibrations of the universe, the hard- wiring of the human brain, love, hot mon- key love, pain turned outward, joy turned inward, the libido turned upward, the unstated turmoils of class or gender, God with a capital “G,” god with a lower-case “g,” God-damn-the-guy-who-stole-my- woman, God-bless-the-woman-who-stole- my-man. These are only a handful of the signifieds that have danced the semiotic samba alongside music’s signifier. To say that music is simply good or music is simply fun is not enough. We in the Western world have to place a deeper meaning onto the music we listen to. But, if music is always the metaphor, what is the metaphor for music? We talk about music as a symbol for something else. We seldom turn the tables of logic and inference in the other direction. So, I’ll posit an idea here: Smoke. Smoke is the perfect metaphor for music. Unfortunately, we’re trying to purge smoke from our lives. Witness the clean coal industry and catalytic converters. This is a darn shame considering all the good things we owe to smoke’s carcinogenic pres- ence. Think of the great episodes of modern history: the Industrial Revolution, the trenches in France during WWI, Keith Richard’s morning sit on the loo. All involve billows and billows of smoke. Smokestacks, mustard gas, Chesterfield non-filters. The world was built upon smoke. If we turn to high-culture, let me just say six words: Cheech & Chong’s Up in Smoke.Actually, that’s five words and a squiggly line. Shoot me. Just don’t leave a smoking gun. There’s also that charming indie film Smoke Signals, which convinced Sherman Alexie to stick to writing short sto- ries. Look high and low. Smoke is every- where. Here one minute, gone the next. And, it deserves a “thank you.” But, a big tergum quo nos caepi to all my brethren in the hills east of El Cajon. Let’s get back to the beginning and my main point: Smoke is the perfect metaphor for music. Not only does it swirl around a room, so physical yet untouchable, smoke also has a storied role in the making of the music we love. What would the roadhouse, honkytonk, and juke joint of yore look like with smoking ordinances posted on the walls? Where would our croaky, old blues singers be if it weren’t for cigarettes and whisky? How would the Beatles have ever held a press conference? What would Tom Waits stuff into the corner of his mouth? Why would Kurt Cobain have sat through yet another MTV interview? Smoking has become an indispensible prop in popular music. And, it seems like the music died when we tried to legislate away the smoke. Fortunately, the whole world doesn’t think like those killjoys over at the American Lung Association. Hoffer’s Cigar Bar in downtown La Mesa is doing it old school. Walking into Hoffer’s is like walking into a film noir. Wood paneling and brick gladly replace the all-too-current faux fin- ishes and neon one finds elsewhere. The room is enveloped in rich shadow and mood lighting. The sunlight beaming in from the doors reminds the patron that there’s a world worth escaping out there. However, thankfully, “I’m in here and not a part of it.” Hoffer’s is an escape to another place and time. For this bar, smoke means elegance. This ain’t no smoky liar’s club for sharecrop- pin’ crackers. It’s where one can come and savor the rich tobaccos from far off tropical ports with names as exotic as the names of Angelina Jolie’s children. “A cigar is a vaca- tion,” the bar’s owner Phil Hoffman reminds us. And, all of the seats are first class. Given that Hoffer’s is such a buttoned down operation, it’s amazing to learn that Hoffman is only a year into his first busi- ness. Groomed in the automobile industry, Hoffman is a trained mechanic who spent the past 25 years in wholesale tire sales. He even helped the Price family spearhead the Price Club tire outlets in the early ’80s. Running contrary to common sense, he decided to start his first business when the economy got really bad. “We owned the building,” he explains, “and watched a number of tenants come and go.” By sum- mer of 2008, he said basta Rasta to working for someone else. At that same time, the lat- est tenant on La Mesa Boulevard wanted out of her lease. The challenges were many, but Hoffman decided it was time. Hoffer’s Cigar Bar opened its doors in August of last year. Combining his passions for a good beer, sports, music, good conversation, and, of course, a good cigar, Hoffman installed everything he would need to entertain patrons as he would want to be entertained himself. “We put in a state-of-the-art sound system,” he says. Two wide-screens adorn the bar for Sunday and Monday night foot- ball. “We have 24 beers on tap, 20 wines, four ports, and 40 to 50 different cigars.” Two humidor rooms allow customers to journey through the vast selection of sto- gies. Hoffman has even developed his own rating system, ranging from mild to full- bodied to help find the “right cigar for the right person.” Not ready to light yourself afire? Never fear. All of the smoking is done out on the patio. The inside bar is kept smoke-free by a couple of de-smokifier doohickeys (I never was good at mechanical nomenclature) that blow the smoke back out the doors before it enters. But, I know you’ve been waiting to feel some déjà vu all over again. So, another ter- gum quo nos caepi to all who have wondered why there’s a diphthong in the word “Budweiser.” Let’s get back to the main point of this whole thing and see if we can get some smoke and music swirling in uni- son. In May, jazz trumpeter Bruce Cameron walked into Hoffer’s and proposed to pro- vide a professional jazz combo on Saturday nights. Phil Hoffman replied with an imme- diate “yes.” The rest is history. And, Cameron along with local guitar pro Mark Augustin and bassist/drummer Ted Williams have been packing ’em in on the patio, the same patio where all of the smoking is going on. Bruce Cameron, many may remember, is the former musical partner of the late Hollis Gentry. Cameron and Gentry started the group that would go on to become Hoffer’s Cigar Bar: Where There’s Smoke There’s Fiery Jazz and a Whole Lot More The San Diego Troubadour is dedicated to the memory of Ellen and Lyle Duplessie, whose vision inspired the creation of this newspaper. Hoffer’s, 8282 La Mesa Blvd. ERRATA The people in the photo below were incorrectly identified in last month’s Troubadour. They are the Pony Tales, a trio that performs at Wood ‘n’ Lips Open Mic on Thursday evenings. Hoffer’s patio performance space Bruce Cameron at Hoffer’s continued on page 14. Photo: Raul Sandelin